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Glamour
Glamour The stuff of dreams, the magical clay, the energy of awe, the workings of wonder, the breeze that blows the cobwebs of disbelief from our eyes — Glamour is all these things and more. The ability to live your dreams, to perceive the true and fantastic essence of the world, abides in Glamour. Everyone can create it, even normal humans. Only the fae, however, have the ability to give it form, to use it, and to wield its progeny as a weapon. Only the fae have a connection to and a command of Glamour that no other creature shares. Raw Glamour can take physical form, and changelings can not only perceive it, but also see its presence. It appears to changelings as multi-colored flickers and tentacles of ever-changing energy. Unlike an aura, raw Glamour does not radiate, but seems to caress over and wind through things and beings, never still, ever-evolving. When imbued in a cantrip, Glamour sparks and flickers around both the caster and the target of the cantrip. For this reason, it becomes very difficult for a changeling to cast a cantrip without all other changelings present realizing exactly who did it. A changeling has to be extremely subtle to hide his use of Glamour from other creatures of the Dreaming. Once infused into an item or being, Glamour becomes more rigid, but nevertheless maintains a certain ethereal quality. For example, a chimerical sword swung through the air will leave a trail of shimmering Glamour behind in a wake. Storytelling Glamour Gaining Glamour There are several ways to gain points of Glamour. The first and most straightforward is to sleep for a night in the light of a Freehold’s Balefire. An uninterrupted sleep in a Freehold refresh a point of Glamour, assuming that the character has been given permission by the owner of the Freehold, and that it has sufficient Glamour to provide (see [[Freeholds]] to determine how many points of Glamour a Freehold provides a day). Some oaths or Quests can provide Fae with Glamour points, as well as some locations in the Dreaming. However, the most reliable and replenishing sources of Glamour available to the Kithain are Epiphanies and Dross. Four Routes to Epiphany Reverie The Fae inspires a mortal to a work of artistic creation. After the character acts as a muse and the mortal produces their work, the ST will roll in secret. Successes determine how much Glamour is produced when a mortal audience experiences the creation for the first time, which the Faerie can harvest. Musing Thresholds Musing Thresholds are primarily a flavor text mechanic that helps describe the character's particular style in which they prefer to Muse or Ravage a Dreamer. They are certainly able to modify their methods, but they enjoy a mild bonus (+1) to rolls in their chosen Thresholds to represent their experience and habits paying off. Click [[From each list Here|here]] to see a list of the Musing and Ravaging Thresholds Rapture The Fae works to produce an artistic creation themselves. This can be more time consuming, but can yield greater results, particularly if the character's permanent Banality is greater than their Glamour. The player makes a roll based on the artistic style; once enough time has been spent working on the creation; successes result in Glamour points. If they achieve 5 or more successes and their banality is greater than their Glamour scores, they may gain a permanent dot of Glamour. Ravaging The Fae attempts to forcefully take the glamour a mortal subject has. After building a rapport with the target, the character rolls their permanent Banality (difficulty of target's permanent banality). Successes yield Glamour points and a fatigued mortal. Click [[From each list Here|here]] to see a list of the Musing and Ravaging Thresholds Rhapsody A more intense form of Ravaging with dreadful side effects upon the mortal. A Fae (or group of Fae) invests from 1-5 Glamour into a mortal Dreamer to force an outburst of creative energy. The storyteller then makes a roll (pool depending on the mortal’s artistic style, with a +1-5 bonus for Glamour invested, difficulty equal to their own Banality). Each success yields a point of Glamour to each Fae that invested. Additionally, this method will often result in the creation of a piece of Dross, with a rating equal to the number of successes the Dreamer achieves on their roll. However, this method typically leaves the dreamer permanently drained and emotionally scarred, rendering them unable to produce a creative work again. Dross Sometimes a Dreamer creates a piece that has a more lasting ability to inspire creativity in others, which makes it a valuable, somewhat-renewable, source of Glamour among the Fae. The resulting creation is known as Dross. A piece of Dross has a level rating (normally 1-2 is average, 5 is quite rare). When another Dreamer (i.e. A mortal with a Banality below 6) first views the piece, the Dross has a chance to elicit a reaction and evoke a point of Glamour from them. For ease of reference, roll a die for each Dreamer that observes it for the first time, with a difficulty of (7 minus the rating of the Dross). Other types oF Dross Dross can take the form of many different things, in varying sizes and shapes. The following is a list of sample items. * Dream Stones: Dream stones are beautiful natural objects. Although these items are named dream stones, the majority of them aren't stones at all — they might be anything from a small clump of moss from a rarely visited forest to an unusually formed crystal. Dream stones are distinguishable from their ordinary counterparts — the moss might be an unusual color, or the crystal might glow with a chimerical inner light. Dream stones are usually found around faerie glens and in hidden wilderness grottos. Dream stones usually contain only small amounts of Glamour, from one to two points. * Mementos: Mementos are items associated with a person or an event of great inspirational significance. The rarer the item and the greater the person or event connected with it, the more dross it holds. * Chimera: Glamour gained from destroying a chimerical beast may be used to replenish a changeling's own depleted score. However, one must consume the flesh of the beast in order to gain any benefits. Doing this repeatedly can cause side effects ranging from purgative to poisonous to Bedlam-inspiring. Chimerical items may also release Glamour when destroyed. The amount of Glamour gained by consuming a beast or breaking a chimerical object is generally proportional to the power of the creature or item. * Founts: Certain hidden places in the world have a direct connection to the Dreaming. These places, called founts, are highly sought after. In fact, some freeholds are built upon or near these sites, where Glamour bubbles up naturally like a spring. The amount of dross gained by ingesting the Glamour-laden "water" is determined by the Storyteller, although it is usually never more than 10 points in one draught, after which the fount must be allowed to replenish itself before it can be drawn from again. Strange side effects can arise from drinking from certain founts. Anything from hallucinations, nightmares, precognition or an attack of the giggles may result, depending on the Storyteller's discretion and the location of the fount. Uses for Glamour In Changeling, a character uses Glamour to exert control over the different aspects of the Dreaming, including forming chimera and casting cantrips. These are the most common uses for Glamour: * Casting a cantrip can oftentimes require you to spend a temporary point of Glamour * Sometimes you can spend temporary Glamour in order to extend the duration of a cantrip, delay its effects, or afffect multiple targets. * To create raw dream-stuff while in the Dreaming, using one's realms to weave raw magical energy into simple forms temporarily. * You can use Glamour to create a token in order to enchant a mortal. To do so, the changeling invests a number of temporary points of Glamour into a small item, such as a ribbon or coin, equal to the number of days the changeling wishes the enchantment to last. Enchantment It is useful for changelings to bring mortals into their world at times, whether out of necessity or for less savory reasons (or both). This is done through a process known as enchantment. Enchanting a mortal is actually far easier than one might suspect; it is merely a matter of imbuing the chosen mortal with a bit of one's own Glamour. A changeling who wishes to enchant a mortal must create a small token and infuse it with her own Glamour. Such tokens can take many forms: a bit of ribbon tied into a bow, an origami sculpture, a bouquet of daisies picked from the side of the road. Some Kithain create food or drink, which they imbue with their Glamour. Whatever the form, the item must be given to the chosen mortal (who must then accept it), and then either carried or eaten by the subject. The amount of temporary Glamour invested into the token determines how many days the mortal remains enchanted, on a one-for-one basis. Enchantment has two main effects upon a mortal; first, it protects them for a time from the memory altering nature of the Mists, and allows them to recall their experiences with the magical normally. This also clears their perceptions enough to reliably perceive even the least substantial and ephemeral of Chimera (though it does not pierce active concealment if the Chimera in question is hiding from them, nor does it guarantee that the enchanted mortal will understand what they are seeing). These memories will remain clear so long as the mortal remains enchanted The other benefit is that the mortal is slightly less banal while enchanted. Their effective permanent banality does not actually decrease, but the passive effects of their presence (such as their ambient banality being disruptive to Chimera, or degrading chimerical creations in the Dreaming) are muted somewhat. This is quite beneficial to Kithain employ mortal servants in their retinues or freeholds. For supernatural creatures (vampires, werewolves, wraiths and mages) to interact with creatures of the Dreaming (changelings and chimera), they must be enchanted just as mortals must be. Some supernatural creatures have the ability to "enchant" themselves through certain powers of their own. For the purposes of clarity, text that refers to unenchanted mortals also applies to supernatural creatures.